Passing the Torch
Passing the Torch is a two part episode of Power Rangers Turbo, encompassing the eighteenth and nineteenth episodes. The two parter's significance is in the passing of the Red, Green, Yellow, and Pink Turbo powers from Tommy, Adam, Tanya, and Kat over to their successors, T.J., Carlos, Ashley, and Cassie. Summary Visited by her mother Mama D, Divatox is inspired to take down the Power Rangers by removing their leader. While heading to the outskirts of Angel Grove to go camping with Adam, Tanya, and Justin, Tommy and Kat are ambushed by an army of Pirahnatrons, with Tommy being captured to be dumped into the Vortex of Eternal Doom and Sorrow, while the others fight the Flamite at their campsite. Luckily, a part of young teens in the midst of moving to Angel Grove, T.J. and Cassie, spot the disturbance and come to the Rangers' aid. As T.J. and Cassie head off to rescue Tommy, Flamite plans to burn down Angel Grove. Carlos and Ashley help bring a group of children into the Youth Center while the rest of the Power Rangers attempt to put out the giant fire. On top of all that, time is running out for the four eldest Rangers, who must pass on their powers to worthy successors by the end of the day. Plot Part 1 As Divatox sleeps in her quarters on the Subcraft, she is visited by her mother Mama D, who is not happy at her daughter's incompetence and calls her a failure to the family name. She orders Divatox to redeem herself by destroying the Power Rangers, or else she'll be working at the eyepatch factory. When Divatox asks how, Mama D hammers it in deep: "Remove the leader... the rest will fall like dominoes". Out in the mountains, Tommy and Kat are driving out to meet with Justin, Tanya, and Adam for a camping trip. Elsewhere on a cross-country bus, a young teenage girl is singing to her portable radio, annoying all the other passengers until a nearby teenage boy tells her to stop. As the two strike up a conversation, they introduce themselves to each other as T.J. and Cassie. Cassie is heading to Stone Canyon to pursue a music career, while T.J. is heading to Angel Grove to get some training and become a baseball player. Back with Tommy and Kat, Divatox has sent Piranhatrons out on motorcycles to chase their truck and capture Tommy. The two Rangers are forced to head off-road as the fishy fiends stay in hot pursuit. Kat jumps out to safety and drops her Turbo Key while Tommy keeps the Piranhatrons focused on him as he escapes, but they blow up his truck and knock him out. At a nearby rest stop, T.J. hears the battle and runs off to investigate, ignoring Cassie's reminder that the bus is getting ready to leave. Divatox, having spotted the other Rangers camping, sends out a pair of Putra Pods and the monster Flamite in order to keep them from coming to Tommy's rescue. While Adam and Tanya bicker over setting up the hammock, Justin spots movement in the bushes and follows it only to be ambushed by Flamite. Nearby, a Putra Pod hatches and attacks Adam and Tanya. No longer able to stall the bus driver, Cassie decides to stay behind and look for T.J.. She finds him near Tommy's blown-up truck, and they soon see Kat being harassed by the Piranhatrons. T.J. runs to help her with a reluctant Cassie following. They are attacked by another group of Piranhatrons before they can even get close to her, but they prove surprisingly capable of fighting them off to Kat's amazement. However, none of them are paying attention to the Putra Pod that is hatching. At the campsite, Justin gets his Turbo Key knocked away by Flamite and struggles against his grip. Tanya and Adam trip up the Putra Pod in their hammock and run to help him, but their Keys get kicked away as well and they are forced to dodge Flamite as they retrieve them. In the desert, T.J., Cassie, and Kat join together to fight the Piranhatrons but are unable to save Tommy as the Putra Pod drags him away. And in a hidden cave, Divatox cackles in triumph as the leader of the Power Rangers is delivered to her. Part 2 Justin, Tanya, and Adam morph and draw their Turbo Weapons, but Flamite blocks their shots. Adam then dumps a fire-bucket full of water on the monster to weaken him. While it works, Flamite teleports away before the Rangers can attack. Unable to follow for now, the Rangers head out to meet with Kat and scare off the Piranhatrons. T.J. and Cassie show the Rangers their gratitude for the rescue and help console Kat before leaving. In the cave, Divatox has hooked Tommy to a rope and is boasting over how she'll make him suffer for all the misery he and the Rangers put her through, but she can't decide how to do it. Mama D appears and suggests dumping him into the Vortex of Eternal Doom and Sorrow. Divatox agrees with the idea, so Mama D summons the Vortex to appear below Tommy's feet as he dangles for dear life. To add one final touch, Divatox spreads peanut butter on the rope so that the rats will gnaw through it, keeping Tommy on edge until his last moment. In the Power Chamber, the remaining Rangers have their hands full. Alpha 6 is unable to locate Tommy, a giant Flamite is on a rampage in Angel Grove, and Dimitria has warned the Rangers that their time is fleeting and fading fast, as evidenced by a diminishing hourglass. The Rangers can't fight Flamite in their current state, so they morph and focus on getting civilians to safety first. Back in the desert, T.J. is still excited over meeting the Power Rangers and explains to Cassie that he had wanted to be one when he was a kid, but she doesn't seem to share his sentiments and simply wants to get back into town. When they find slimy footprints left by the Putra Pod, T.J. decides to follow them. Cassie doesn't and goes her own way instead. As the Rangers help the civilians, a pair of familiar faces are spotted: Carlos and Ashley from the High School soccer team. Adam and Tanya recruit them to help evacuate the children to the Youth Center. Elsewhere, Piranhatrons are preventing the fire department from putting out Flamite's fires, forcing Kat and Justin to fight them off. T.J.'s following of the slime trail leads him to a rocky cliff... and Cassie, who can't bring herself to leave her new friend behind. Together, they reach the cave where Tommy is seconds away from falling into the Vortex. Though a trio of Piranhatrons try to stall them, T.J. is just barely able to grab the rope as it snaps, allowing Cassie to grab and save Tommy. After a moment of introduction and thanks, T.J. and Cassie leave while Tommy teleports behind their backs to join the battle at Angel Grove. Now at full strength, the Rangers summon the Turbo Megazord and give Flamite a Spin-Out to end the long battle, leaving Divatox to face Mama D's wrath. With the hourglass now out of sand and Angel Grove safe, the Rangers are ready to do what must be done. Dimitria and Alpha 6 show them to a special room in the Power Chamber, where they are reunited with Zordon and Alpha 5 as part of a grand event: the Power Transfer. Tommy, Tanya, Kat, and Adam have been asked to choose new individuals to continue on as the Power Rangers in their stead, and they have chosen T.J., Ashley, Cassie, and Carlos to take up their respective mantles as the Red, Yellow, Pink, and Green Turbo Rangers. With Justin at their side as the Blue Turbo Ranger, the legacy continues... Cast *Jason David Frank as Tommy Oliver (Red Turbo Ranger 1) *Blake Foster as Justin Stewart (Blue Turbo Ranger) *Johnny Yong Bosch as Adam Park (Green Turbo Ranger 1) *Nakia Burrise as Tanya Sloan (Yellow Turbo Ranger 1) *Catherine Sutherland as Kat Hillard (Pink Turbo Ranger 1) *Gregg Bullock as Jerome Stone *Patricia Ja Lee as Cassie Chan (Pink Turbo Ranger 2) *Selwyn Ward as T.J. Johnson (Red Turbo Ranger 2) *Bob Manahan as Zordon (voice) *Unknown performer as Alpha 5 *Richard Steven Horvitz as Alpha 5 (voice) *Roger Velasco as Carlos Vallerte (Green Turbo Ranger 2) *Tracy Lynn Cruz as Ashley Hammond (Yellow Turbo Ranger 2) *Carol Hoyt as Dimitria *Donene Kistler as Alpha 6 *Katerina Luciani as Alpha 6 (voice) *Carol Hoyt as Divatox *Kenny Graceson as Elgar *Derek Stephen Prince as Elgar (voice) *Ed Neil as Rygog *Walter Lang as Rygog (voice) *Scott Page-Pagter as Porto (voice) *Derek Stephen Prince as Flamite (voice) *Carol White as Mama D Notes *The casting switch was made due to a multitude of factors. At the time, Jason David Frank wanted to leave the franchise after Zeo, but the producers negotiated with him to appear in 19 episodes so they could find a replacement. Catherine Sutherland, according to some reports, was also interested in leaving the show, but she said that was not true. With the Screen Actors Guild wanting the actors to join, that would have resulted in Saban having to pay more for the actors' services. As a result, Saban placed ads in the newspaper looking for four new Rangers, deciding to release Johnny Yong Bosch and Nakia Burrise as well. According to Bosch, the actors found out about their release when a makeup artist showed them the want ad for new Rangers. *Final appearances, to date, of Kat Hillard and Tanya Sloan. *First appearance of T.J. Johnson and Cassie Chan. *In an early script, T.J. introduced himself to Tommy as "Timothy Johnson". http://sirstack.livejournal.com/34411.html *Tommy would appear again to don his Zeo Ranger V uniform in Wild Force's "Forever Red", and return to full-time duties as the Black Dino Thunder Ranger in Dino Thunder. *Adam would reappear as the Black Mighty Morphin' Ranger in Space's "Always a Chance" and Operation Overdrive's "Once a Ranger". *Alpha 5 appears one final time this episode with his original form from MMPR-Zeo and is never seen or mentioned again; his current whereabouts are at this time undisclosed. *Jason, Zack, Trini, Billy, Kimberly, Rocky and Aisha were to appear at the end to join the departing Rangers, basically showing all the Power Rangers who ever existed (up to that point) together. All but Trini were to be played by body doubles and not Austin St. John, Walter Jones, David Yost, Steve Cardenas, Karan Ashley and Amy Jo Johnson. http://sirstack.livejournal.com/34411.html. *None of the Turbo Rangers appear morphed in Part I. *Part II marks the first time the morphing sequence was used in the cold opening. *As of this episode, Dimitria no longer speaks in questions, which was a very annoying character trait for both characters and viewers alike. *When Carlos and Ashley bring the kids into the Youth Center, the First Boy is played by Wesley Barker (Drew McCormick of the Beetleborgs). See Also (fight footage) Category:Turbo Category:Episode Category:New Power Ranger Episode Category:Multi-Part Episode